Ella Fitzgerald Research Paper

Known as the “Empress Of Blues”, Bessie Smith was said to have revolutionized the vocal end of Blues Music. She showed a lot of pride as an independent African-American woman. Her style in performance and lyrics often reflected her lifestyle. Bessie Smith was one of the first female jazz artists, and she paved the way for many musicians who followed.

He brought a different approach to vocal jazz. His constant writing and recording helped having a big influence on the jazz scene. While making his mark on may parts of the industry he was best known for his singing. He experimented some with scatting and chromatic vamping, which showed in “Lulu’s back in town.” He pushed the crooning style further until in 1950’s when it died out as rock and roll became more popular. This caused him to grow into a more Jazz style of singing although he believed that there were no pure jazz signers it all depended on their influences.

Selena quintanilla-Pérez won 67 total awards of the span of her music career. An she may have won many more if she were still here with us today. But with or without those awards we will forever know how Selena changed the music industry with all her accomplishments and how she impacted our lives

Whitney Houston is considered as one of the greatest singers of our generation. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she holds the record of being the most rewarded female artist of all time. I chose her as my topic, because she represents resiliency and tenacity, despite her troubled experiences with drugs and her personal life. Whitney Houston comes from a family with an amazing, musical pedigree; her mother, Cissy Houston, was a successful back-up singer for Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley. Dionne Warwick is her first cousin and Aretha Franklin is her godmother. In 1983, Houston was signed to Arista Records and music executive, Clive Davis, became her mentor and helped launch her successful career. Whitney Houston was

Aretha Louise Franklin also known as the Queen of Soul was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis Tennessee. She is known for being a solo singer, and also a very talented pianist. Soul, R&B, Jazz, and Gospel are genres that she sings. Throughout her career she signed with Colombia Records and has released many popular singles that would now be considered classical. Aretha became the first female artist to be introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. Up until this day Aretha is still alive living at age seventy two and has won many Grammy awards and considered one of the most honored artist.

February of every year is known as National Black History Month. There are many African American people who made a great impact on all African-Americans today. In honor of this month, though, I have chosen to write about Marian Anderson. Marian Anderson was a singer who had made a great impact on many of the black singers in the past. She was one of the first female African-American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1955. Some of Marian’s last words to the public were “I have a great belief in the future of my people and my country.”

She began singing solo’s at New Bethel Church. At the age of fourteen Aretha’s talent for singing was recognized by her father, and he started managing her shortly after, so he could get her a recording deal. She started off by going on the road with her father and singing at various churches while he preached. This resulted in Aretha Franklin getting signed to her first record deal with J.V.B. Records Label. Her first studio album was titled “Songs Of Faith”. Although this did not put her on the map as the Queen of Soul. Aretha decided at the age of 18 that she wanted to go in the direction of Sam Cooke and sing Pop music. It was not until she signed with the Columbia Records in 1960, that she had her first single chart the Billboard on the Hot 100 with her song “Won’t Be Long” off her first pop studio album Aretha: With the Ray Bryant Combo. With her talent Franklin was able to record in diverse genres such as vocal jazz, blues, standards, rhythm and blues and doo-wop. In 1962, she released two more studio albums: ‘The Electrifying Aretha Franklin’ and ‘The Tender,The Moving,Swinging Aretha Franklin’. Her number-one R&B singles are “Respect” in 1967, “Chain Of Fools” in 1967, “Think” in 1967, and “Share Your Love With Me” also in 1967. In 1968 Aretha performed at Dr. Martin Luther King’s Funeral. She also performed at the presidential inauguration of Jimmy Carter. Doing her music is the reason why Franklin is where she is now and why she is known as the queen of

The Harlem Renaissance was an African American cultural movement specifically in creative arts such as music and literature. Jazz represented the flavor and zest of African American culture in the 1920s-1940s. Billie Holiday had a great impact on the Harlem Renaissance because she was one of the most influential jazz singers of all time. She performed with other great jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson, Jo Jones, and Henry Allen. Her career as a jazz singer was an incredible and thriving one, however, it was shortened because of her battle of substance abuse. Despite the drug use and the loss of her mother, the only thing she could turn to was her music. Billie Holiday's legacy will always live on when the discussion of the Harlem Renaissance is present.

Many great performers have come out of the jazz industry, but the most widely known is Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. Louis began playing at a young age when he was growing up in New Orleans. His greatest inspiration was Joe “King” Oliver. He began following him and eventually Oliver became Armstrong’s mentor. Armstrong practiced his instrument and eventually he became the jazz great everyone knows today. Armstrong’s unique singing and masterful improvisation transitioned jazz from the traditional style to a newer, more rhythmic style. He popularized scat singing and was the first musician to have his solo on a recording (Rodgers 85). The solos Armstrong performed along with his popular scat singing helped make jazz musicians more popular along with making the fans take notice of Armstrong and jazz itself (Rennert 8).

Ella's voice had a sweetness to it that was rarely accompanied by such a wide range as hers. Her style has been described as effortless, natural, flexible, ageless and accessible. Many call her "The First Lady of Song". She started as a swing singer, moved to bebop, perfected scat and jazz and could sing modern or classic songs. Artists whose songs she stylized included Louis Armstrong, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington and the Gershwins.

Dorothy's career spanned over five decades, she collaborated with some of the greatest of the industry. Many of her songs became instant classics, and she was one of the biggest co-librettists of all Broadway.

Carole King is a musical icon in the world of 20th century popular music, and her longevity and success as an artist have cemented her as one of the influential musicians out of every genre of music. In this essay, I will examine how her musical style and female identity each played roles her incredibly successful musical career.

Singer. Born April 25, 1917, in Newport News, Virginia. (Though many biographical sources give her birth date as 1918, her birth certificate and school records show her to have been born a year earlier.) Often referred to as the "first lady of song," Fitzgerald enjoyed a career that stretched over six decades. With her lucid intonation and a range of three octaves, she became the preeminent jazz singer of her generation, recording over 2,000 songs, selling over 40 million albums, and winning 13 Grammy Awards, including one in 1967 for Lifetime Achievement.

Connie Francis truly left an amazing impact on rock and roll music. She is essentially the prototype for the female pop singers of present day. She paved the way for women in the fifties to sing rock and roll with the boys, and was unique as a female artist in that she made record sales equal to or exceeding her male singing counterparts. Her music styling had quite a range, including big band, country, ethnic, folk, and many other types. Interestingly, Francis actually still challenges one of today’s pop stars, Madonna, as the biggest-selling female recording artist of all time.

She was the starving musician, the jazz singer who did all she could to stay alive and still do what she loves. The dedication she displayed to jazz is not easy to explain. She was a perfectionist in her fashion, depending upon her excellent ear, unique voice and honesty and love for people to keep her love alive.